Statoil farms into acreage offshore Colombia

Statoil has signed farm-in agreements with Repsol, acquiring a 10% equity share in the Tayrona license and a 20% equity share in the Guajira Offshore 1 license, both offshore Colombia.

“With the recent award of the COL4 licence in the 2014 Colombia licensing round and the farm-in agreements with Repsol, Statoil is well positioned in deepwater offshore Colombia,” Nick Maden, Senior VP for Statoil’s exploration activities in the Western Hemisphere, said. “We are gaining access to a vast underexplored frontier area through early access at scale, which is in line with Statoil’s exploration strategy.”

With 40% interest, Petrobras operates the Tayrona license, which includes the ongoing Orca-1 exploration well. Repsol retains a 20% of the license after farming 10% to Statoil. The remaining 30% is held by Ecopetrol. The license covers an area of 16,500 sq km and is located in water depths between 50 m to 1,500 m.

Repsol operates the Guajira Offshore 1 (GUA OFF-1) license and retains a 30% interest after farming 20% to Statoil. The remaining 50% is held by Ecopetrol. The license covers an area of 12,200 sq km and is located in water depths between 1,500 m to 3,500 m.

Repsol has completed a 2D seismic survey in the license area. The next step includes a 3D seismic survey, which is expected to start later this year.

The deals are subject to the approval of the National Hydrocarbons Agency of Colombia (ANH).

In July 2014 Statoil announced that it had been awarded interest in the COL4 license. Repsol is the operator of the license, with a 33.34% equity interest. Statoil and ExxonMobil Exploration Colombia each hold 33.33% interests in the license.